Glowing Embers
by vixen16
Summary: Kenshin and the others got themselves into a great mess involving a plot to burn down Japan, a girl who can summon fire, a berserker and a top Meiji official. Rating may change. Please review.


**author's note:** Hey, I don't really know much about RK in fact I wasn't able to watch most of the episodes but hell, I want to write about it and so I will. Forgive me for misspelled names, places or any other inaccuracies within this fic. Don't rely on this for any type of RK information. Reviews will be very much appreciated. There won't be much of other Oni gang members here. Let me warn you, no jokes here. My humor sucks

**Disclaimer:** I do not own RK but I do own the main character on this fic.

Chapter 1: Escape

The murky earth seethed between my toes. Several sharp stones have cut through but I never paid heed for if I did, it would be the end. Despite several attempts to end my God-forsaken life before, I wouldn't give it up now. Not to them, not tonight.

More gunshots still. Damn it, sooner they'd be able to penetrate the barrier I have created. I gathered up all my strength. Run. Faster. Faster until I felt a piercing pain on my side. With the pain which worsen by the minute came fear. Fear of the knowledge that I couldn't hold up for long. This pain…it wouldn't slow me down if it were just those stitches from running but as this chase went farther, things have proven it to be very difficult. A bullet went through my barrier and sliced through the skin and a thin layer of flesh on the left side of my waist. Every step made me wince in pain. If only I could stop for a while and nurse this wound which has gone deeper than I thought…but no, time is too precious to be wasted. A dozen armed men are gaining up on me. And Lyle, he expects me to go anywhere far from Tokyo, and after Nobura gets what he deserves, he'd find me and rebuild our lives. Together. How I look forward to that day.

I grunted as another bullet made its way past my weakening barrier and through the my right shoulder blade. They've done it. My only line of defense against their pistols has faltered down and oh, what luck. My legs are giving up on me and this new wound hurts like hell. The thin membrane of fire enclosing me faded into nothingness. I grew desperate. What else is there to do? My legs and knees are vigorously shaking beneath me. A warning that a step or two more would send me crashing to the ground. I drew a deep sigh; of grief for these men trailing behind me who wouldn't live to see the morn, and of revulsion for what I am about to do. _God forgive me_ I murmured as I took advantage of the pitch-black surroundings and took cover behind an old oak tree and waited for Nobura's hounds, ready for the kill, literally. My heart throbbed faster as I heard their footsteps and yowls of anger coming near. Three. Two. One. I emerged from behind the tree and with a few gestures of my hand, summoned fire and set all their bodies ablaze. I stood perfectly still and cold as ice for a second or two, shunned and shaken by what I did. Their screams seemed to penetrate to the deepest part of my soul. I have killed. This is the cost of my freedom. I turned away and limped into the darkness, eyes misty with bitter tears, heart sunk and mind replaying the gory scene. Air smelled of roasted flesh, horrified and desperate wails filled my ears and men ran and rolled around to rid themselves of the fire. I shuddered at the thought. I didn't just kill, I tortured them knowing that the fire wouldn't die out unless they were all reduced to ashes. That was just about an hour or two of unbearable pain and agony. I had no choice. God rest their souls.

I have surprisingly managed to walk, or rather drag myself for three hours more across some place, which seemed like a forest, stopping only for a few minutes to have a splash of water on my face and a cold drink by a brook. It's nearly dawn and every fiber of muscle on my body ached for rest and I was groggy with sleepiness and recollection of past events. Outlines of objects in front of me had been barely visible. I've had several bad bumps and falls, in fact. Little light from the dawning sky were of little help. This place seemed to be engulfed in fog. I walked some more as I saw (or did I?) a flicker of light somewhere a few paces away. Man, this has to be something! I used my hands to make my way amidst the darkness, feeling for obstacles. The wound on my shoulder felt like shit. I gritted my teeth against the pain, now sending shivers and piercing coldness throughout my body. And my head, darn! Are my brains being squeezed out? Urgh…such excruciating pain…

I felt my eyes roll backward and heard myself release a tiny, whimpering sound as I, at the last moment tried to catch my own weight and struggled to stand up. My body has failed me for the nth time since last night and I crashed to the…ey, what's this? My shoulder and head rested on something solid. A wall? Well, whatever it was, I leaned against it for support and clung to it with my other good arm and covered a few more feet of the trodden, packed earth. I was so very weak that sudden gusts of gentle morning breeze felt like hard blows against me. Damn, what a lame way to end it all…after miles of running, walking ad crawling at the worst, I'd lose consciousness in the middle of nowhere, never to be found for eternity. With the last wisp of breath and wit, I was able to utter a muffled word asking for help.

I woke up to the sound of footsteps approaching me. Behind closed lids, I pictured a tall, stocky man with a thick-bladed sword grinning at me like Death himself. I struggled to rise to defend myself but was almost immediately seized by a sudden vertigo. My eyes shot open as the footsteps stopped and I felt someone looking intently at me from above. "So, you're finally awake, Miss…?" said a raspy voice from an old, doe-eyed woman. I told her my name and some tidbits of the intricate assemblage of events as to why I look thus and why I'm here. I've slept for barely three hours and she knew I had to leave soon. She helped me dress into a kimono which she owned. While I dressed, I noticed that the gash on my waist had been stitched and bandaged and my shoulder wound had been cleaned and loosely bandaged.

" I don't have equipment to take the bullet out. It'd be best for you to get to a doctor before the wound becomes infected." The old woman had so much concern in her voice; I began to miss my grandmother.

" I'm afraid there would be pain but as far as I can see, you're a woman tougher than most." She had this eternal smile on her cracked lips making it seem like I am no stranger at all. She told me how far south I managed to run from Tokyo, taught me how to get to the train station, Or 'mechanical horse' as she called it. And if I was wondering how she managed to stitch my wound, she said she used to be an assistant to a doctor in her youth and like me, she was a woman who fights, at a time when one has to run and hide to keep one's self alive. Just before I left, she handed me a pair of reading glasses, a brunette wig and a scarf into which she wrapped some smaller parcels which I had on me when I escaped containing a pouch of sufficient amount of money to last for at least three months, a letter and crumbling petals of some kind of flower. As I bowed to her to show my gratefulness, she told me "Try not to limp your way amidst a crowd. It would make you conspicuous. Grit your teeth against the pain and put some of this into your tea. It would reduce the pain into a dull throbbing but it wouldn't be much help after five hours." She handed me a packet of dried herbs and patted my hand. I bowed to her again and after she closed the door of her hut, I left several gold coins in front of her doorstep.

Kyoto was the last stop of the train and it was mid-afternoon when I stepped off it. I decided to walk around instead of hiring a carriage because in the first place, I have no idea yet where to go but the decision have proven wrong. It had been two hours since the herbs that the old woman gave me wore off and it felt like my gums would bleed if I grit it some more against the excruciating pain. Jeez, I'm tired and badly wanted to writhe and twist and curl up into a tight ball to reduce this which feels like a forcible pulling and tearing of flesh on my shoulder and waist. It makes it hard to lift my foot to make a step. My wig didn't sit well on my head and neither did the glasses. I've been getting stares and glares, I tell you. After what felt like an eternity of inching my way from the train station to somewhere frequented by the place's natives where I could ask for directions, I was staggering and it took so much effort to stand upright. My vision soon became a flurry of color and outlines. I tried to blink it off and after several deep breaths and tight-lidded blinks, I was able to get back some of my fuddled wits and recognized the fact that I was able to get to a marketplace. Directly in front of me, yards away, I spotted a youngish, red-haired guy in a gi, the same color of his hair and an obviously worn-out hakama. There was something striking about his features. He seemed friendly with those glistening purple eyes. He carried a basket of vegetables on his right arm and a little girl clutched at the other. I walked towards the red-haired guy and the little girl who stopped in front of a stall to buy some carrots. "Pardon me…" I said somewhat feebly. He looked up at me with the eternal glitter in his lovely eyes then suddenly looked perplexed at the sight of me. Who wouldn't have? I must have lost my color into a ghostly white. "Would you know…" His image spun and swerved rapidly as if I was on a fast-spinning wheel. "where to find…a doctor?" My body and brain, after hours of being battered gave up. I surrendered and was engulfed into an abysmal chasm of darkness.


End file.
